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Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (US - DVD R1)

Chris Gould casts a critical eye over the final instalment in the Star Wars saga...

Like many, many people, I grew up with the original Star Wars trilogy. It feels as much a part of my childhood as anything else and to me they’re more than just movies—they are memories of birthdays, Christmases and time spent with family and friends. Having waded through parts one and two of George Lucas’ disappointing Star Wars prequels I couldn’t wait for the ‘big one’ to arrive; the one that would tie everything together and complete a story arc that spans four decades. Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith arrived in UK cinemas on the 19th of May this year to both positive and negative reviews. Is it really the saving grace of the prequel trilogy, or just another soulless CGI-fest? Now, thanks to this DVD release from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, everyone has the opportunity to take a copy home and judge for themselves.

Film

The now-familiar opening crawl explains that the Clone Wars have raged for three years. In a bold move the Separatist forces, led by the nefarious Count Dooku, have launched a daring raid on the Republic capital of Coruscant and succeeded in capturing the Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Senate, Palpatine. Jedi Knights Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker are despatched to rescue the Chancellor, who is being held captive aboard the Separatist flagship by General Grievous, the deadly cyborg commander of the droid armies.

The Jedi succeed in infiltrating the flagship, only to encounter heavy resistance in the form of Confederacy battle droids. When they eventually fight their way to the imprisoned Chancellor they are confronted by Count Dooku himself, and engage in a second lightsaber duel with the Sith Lord. When Obi-Wan is knocked unconscious, Anakin intensifies his attack and manages to disarm (literally) his opponent. It is then that he takes his first steps towards the darkness, when he beheads the defenceless Count at the behest of Chancellor Palpatine.

After a triumphant return to Coruscant, Anakin is reunited with the love of his life, Padmé Amidala, the senator for Naboo who Anakin married in a secret ceremony before the onset of the Clone Wars. It is then that he learns of her pregnancy, which in turn leads to prophetic dreams of her death during childbirth. Troubled by his visions, Anakin at first turns to the wisdom of Yoda, before once again seeking the council of his friend and mentor, Chancellor Palpatine. When the Chancellor innocently recounts the tale of Darth Plagueis, a Sith Lord so powerful with the Force he could use it to sustain and create life, Anakin believes he has found a way to save his love from certain death.

With Obi-Wan and Yoda away on missions for the Republic, Anakin falls increasingly under the influence of the Chancellor. When Palpatine reveals himself to be none other than the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, Anakin is unable to strike him down, instead reporting the unsettling news to Jedi Master Mace Windu. When Windu attempts to arrest Sidious they become embroiled in a deadly lightsaber duel in which Mace seemingly emerges victorious, but as he prepares to deliver the killing blow he is attacked by Anakin, who sees Sidious as his only chance of saving Padmé. Having betrayed the Jedi, and with little choice left to him, Anakin pledges himself to the ways of the Sith and is reborn as Darth Vader.

Without giving any further plot details away it’s safe to say that this is the turning point in the film; when Palpatine effectively offers Anakin the one thing the Jedi cannot: the ability to save his wife from certain death. Anakin’s love for Padmé is the catalyst for his betrayal of his Jedi principals and his defection to the dark side of the Force, and his ultimate downfall. How’s that for irony?

Now I’m a massive fan of the original Star Wars trilogy—a fact that should be evident to anyone who’s read my reviews or articles on this site—but after the relative disappointments of The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones, Sith had a lot to do in order to restore my faith in the prequel series. At first I resisted the hype machine surrounding the movie, but as the months passed and the first images appeared, I have to admit to becoming pretty excited. For me, George Lucas’ promise of a ‘darker’ film meant one that took a more adult approach to the material; one without ‘comedy’ droids and haphazard Gungans. On opening night (well, 12:35am to be precise) I sat down with around three hundred other people—some of them waving lightsabers around in an ill-advised manner—to experience the culmination of almost thirty years of work.

First impressions were good. I’ll admit that the opening, dizzying shot of the Jedi starfighters twisting through the orbital battle above Coruscant literally sent a shiver down my spine (due in no small part to John Williams’ music). I actually felt a real sense of immediacy, almost as if I were in the cockpit with Anakin or Obi-Wan. I’ve always been far more forgiving of CGI when used for inorganic creations than for living creatures, so the overabundance of digital effects used in the battle didn’t really faze me. Then it happened—the vulture droids appeared, complete with ‘cute’ voices. Worse was to come in the next few minutes, when the armies of battle droids appeared and began speaking in voices so annoying as to make ‘Roger roger’ seem tame by comparison. My heart sank as R2-D2 was made to act out a particularly cringe-worthy slapstick scene that almost, but not quite, rivalled C-3PO’s trip around the droid factory in Attack of the Clones.

Finally, when it appeared that we would be getting down to the plot, we were instead ‘treated’ to a throwaway scene in which Anakin cold-bloodedly murders the Sith Lord, Count Dooku. In the novel and audio book this is a pivotal scene, in which Anakin is goaded by Dooku and encouraged by Palpatine, who plants the first seeds of darkness in the young Jedi’s mind. In the completed film the battle is over almost as quickly as it begins, with virtually zero time devoted to exploring Anakin’s state of mind. Presumably the five minutes of bad jokes and annoying robots preceding this moment necessitated the trimming of the actual encounter. Word to the wise, George—I came to see Anakin’s fall from grace, not battle droids rolling around in oil yelling ‘ouch’!

After some rather embarrassing dialogue delivered in a ham-fisted fashion, we learn that Padmé is pregnant with Anakin’s child. This sets into motion the events that will shape the rest of the story. Once again Anakin begins to have prophetic dreams about the death of a loved one (this time Padmé, who ‘dies’ in child birth), and this is supposed to be the reason behind his eventual betrayal of the Jedi and allegiance to the Sith. Unfortunately the chemistry between Christensen and Portman is sadly lacking and I never once bought the relationship between the two, which is a bit of a problem considering that he goes on to plunge the whole galaxy into darkness because he’s so ‘in love’ with her.

Another huge problem is that Hayden Christensen is about as charismatic as a piece of wood, flatly delivering Lucas’ contrived dialogue and repeatedly overemphasising the wrong words or lines. His ‘supposedly’ chilling speech as he announces his evil intentions to a horrified Obi-Wan on Mustafar wouldn’t be out of place in a school play. I don’t know if the blame rests squarely on his shoulders though, because he presumably gave a number of different readings for each take. Lucas and his editorial team would then have chosen the one they liked, and Christensen has previously spoken of his regret over the use of certain takes when he had delivered a better performance in others (such as his ‘I killed them all’ speech in Attack of the Clones).

Another regrettable side-effect of Lucas trying to cram so much into Sith is the criminal lack of screen time devoted to Natalie Portman. Now I know she received a lot of flack for her performances in the previous films, but movies such as Closer and Garden State prove that she is a talented and capable actress. In the previous movies she is a strong, independent leader, but here she is reduced to a relatively inconsequential character with very little to do beyond look pretty (which she does) and spout horrible lines of dialogue. I refer you to the exchange between Anakin in Padmé in which, when complimented on her beauty, she responds with ‘It’s only because I’m so in love with you.’ Please, someone pass the bucket. If the deleted subplot involving the formation of the Rebellion had remained, Padmé’s character would have at least contributed something to this movie beyond getting knocked up and Force choked.

Speaking of trying to cram too much into the film, this is actually Revenge of the Sith’s biggest failing. The events portrayed in the film really needed to be stretched out over two movies, which would have allowed more screen time to be devoted to Anakin’s seduction. As it is, our hero goes from being the saviour of the galaxy to the second most evil being in existence in about as much time as it takes to say ‘contrived plot device’. Still, enough of the negatives; I could nit-pick all day but that would just be depressing. Instead, I’m going to break with tradition slightly and talk about the positive aspects of the film (of which there are actually quite a few).

Firstly, Ian McDiarmid is a joy. He is clearly relishing the dual roles of Chancellor Palpatine and Darth Sidious, especially during the latter stages of the film when he really gets to camp it up as the maniacal Sith Lord. He cackles his way through an exhilarating encounter with Yoda, in which he arguably has the upper hand in a performance that is straight from the school of over-the-top pantomime acting. However, it works very well in the context of this movie, even if he does pull some questionable ‘sex’ faces when using a lightsaber. Although McDiarmid steals the show, Ewan McGregor is also on top form as the venerable Obi-Wan Kenobi. He is closer to Alec Guinness here than ever before, right down to the style of his hair, his beard and the twinkle in his eye.

As one might expect from a Star Wars movie, the effects are pretty spectacular. The opening orbital battle looks astounding, as does pretty much everything that follows. The technology has finally evolved to the point where organic creatures look fairly convincing (Obi-Wan’s steed, Boga) and the digital doubles are all but seamless. General Grievous is an impressive, if underutilised, digital creation, while the various lightsaber duels reach heights hitherto unseen in the saga. In fact, the lightsaber duel on Mustafar is probably the most visually impressive sequence in a film full of visual splendour, with its seamless combination of digital and live-action elements. Yes, you can say what you like about the story, acting and direction, but no one can deny that Revenge of the Sith is a great looking piece of cinema.

Video

Owing largely to the fact that this is yet another direct ‘digital-to-digital’ transfer, Revenge of the Sith is the latest film to set a new standard in DVD visuals. Presented in a THX certificated, anamorphically enhanced 2.35:1 ratio transfer that looks simply magnificent, Sith is as impressive now as Attack of the Clones was when it was released way back in 2002 (and that was impressive). To date, this is simply the finest looking film I’ve seen on the DVD format—not even recent stunners like Sin City look this good—which makes objective analysis quite tricky.

This disc was made for owners of large screen TVs with its incredible levels of detail and artefact-free presentation. It’s very hard to critique a transfer that looks this good, because it comes down to pointing out the most insignificant of ‘faults’ just to have something to talk about. As it is the only real complaint I have was one that I also levied against the Attack of the Clones transfer: things sometimes look too perfect. Because of the excess of digital back-lots used in the production, the actors occasionally appear like cardboard cut-outs against the backgrounds. This is particularly true during the scenes that take place in the Jedi Temple and the pivotal scene in Palpatine’s office after the duel with Mace Windu. In this scene, there are several shots where Anakin just doesn’t look ‘right’ against the digital backdrop. Still, one the whole the CGI is integrated more successfully than ever before, so it’s hard to grumble about the little things like this.

If I had to choose one word to describe the transfer, I would chose magnificent. The images positively leap off of the screen: colour rendition is superb—with everything from the bright neon of Coruscant to the volcanic inferno of Mustafar looking absolutely phenomenal—black levels are rock solid, shadow delineation is excellent and contrast is outstanding. There’s simply no way that the screenshots on this page can possibly do the transfer justice, so you’ll just have to take my word for it until you can try the disc out for yourself. It’s a late entrant for ‘transfer of the year’, but I can’t see anything else beating it this late in the game. Oh, and for those of you who like to tweak your video settings, the disc also includes the customary THX Optimizer tests.

Audio

Presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 EX, Revenge of the Sith has a lot to do in order to live up to the lofty standards set by its predecessors. Thankfully it doesn’t disappoint. The opening scene is perhaps one of the most exhilarating in the film, as thunderous bass announces the arrival of a gigantic Venator-class Star Destroyer even before the camera pans down to reveal the juggernaut itself. Moments later two eerily familiar-sounding starfighters zip overhead and skim the length of the cruiser, before barrel-rolling headlong into the maelstrom of battle below. Capital ships hammer each other with turbolasers while the Jedi starfighters twist and turn through the carnage, before engaging in a dogfight with vulture droids—and that’s just the opening five minutes!

Benn Burtt’s amazing sound design is given a full workout here, with an abundance of discrete effects bringing both the major confrontations and subtle character moments to life. The Star Wars universe has always been recognised for having the ‘coolest’ sounding weapons, and the track does just about everything it can to make them sound even better. The lightsabers in particular sound incredibly powerful, slicing through droids and Separatists alike with that familiar, menacing hum. Although clearly of secondary concern, dialogue is also handled well, remaining crystal clear even amidst the confusion of battle. If I had to make one criticism it would be that, once again, the score has been dialled down a little too much for my liking. However, this is consistent with the mixes for the other prequels, so it’s not a ‘fault’ per se (unlike the faux par that all-but removed the Force fanfare from the DVD release of A New Hope).

Speaking of the score, perhaps the most lamentable thing about the end of the saga is that we’ll presumably never hear another John Williams Star Wars composition. Williams’ music is as much a part of the success of these films as anything else, and I’m pleased to say that he goes out with a bang. After the slightly choppy Attack of the Clones score we’re treated to a more coherent effort this time around. There are several new signature tunes, such as ‘General Grievous’, and the majestic ‘Battle of the Heroes’, along with the introduction of some of the more familiar music from the original trilogy (‘The Clash of Lightsabers’ makes a welcome reappearance) as well as the de rigueur snippet of ‘Duel of the Fates’. Of course it was too much to expect the inclusion of an isolated score after the first two episodes, but I live in hope that it will make it onto a future release.

Extras

Revenge of the Sith follows a similar pattern to its predecessors, with the first disc carrying the feature film and the cast and crew commentary track. This time around participants include George Lucas, Rick McCallum, Rob Coleman, John Knoll and Roger Guyett. As with the other commentaries in the series, the track is a mixed affair. There is some valuable information to be learned, but just when you think that Lucas is going to explain one of the pivotal moments in movie we cut to one of the special effects guys telling us about digital head replacement and the like. It’s really quite frustrating. When it comes to the commentary tracks for all six films I would have really liked a solo track from Lucas (even though he is quite monotonous) and a second audio-visual effects track from guys like Knoll and Ben Burtt. Speaking of Burtt, he is notable by his absence from this track—no doubt because of his recent move from Lucasfilm to Pixar—but I’ve never found him all that engaging so it’s not a great loss.

In spite of the commentary’s shortcomings, Lucas does touch on a number of interesting subjects. We are given fairly definitive answers about Palpatine’s machinations during his duel with Mace Windu (he was faking his loss of his power) and a fairly substandard explanation as to why it took twenty years to build the first Death Star. McCallum also hints that Darth Plagueis did in fact create Anakin, while Coleman states that it was the exertion during his battle with Windu that deformed Palpatine. That should silence some, if not all of the rumours surrounding these contentious scenes.

The documentaries are where the meat of the supplemental material lies, and this time around we get three of them. The first, entitled ‘It’s All for Real: The Stunts of Episode III’, runs for around eleven minutes and takes us behind-the-scenes with the actors and stunt co-ordinators as they shoot some of the spectacular action sequences. Nick Gillard features quite prominently in the piece, along with most of the principal cast and George Lucas himself. We get to see a lot of the preparation that Gillard did for the fight sequences, such as shooting test videos with stuntmen for Lucas to approve prior to building sets and bringing the actors in. We also see how Gillard was able to tailor the various sword fighting styles to individual performers, taking into account the limited physical abilities of elder statesmen Ian McDiarmid and Christopher Lee. The piece is interesting enough while it lasts, but I’d have liked some longer shots of the rehearsals between Hayden Christensen and Ewan McGregor because those guys really can fight.

‘The Chosen One’ is another short documentary (around fifteen minutes) that examines the rise and fall of Anakin Skywalker, from his early days as a young slave boy on Tatooine, to his ascension to the rank of Jedi Knight, through to his transformation into Darth Vader and his ultimate redemption after fulfilling the prophecy. This is an interesting enough piece that does a nice job of clearly identifying the turning points in Anakin’s life, as well as fleshing out the motivation behind some of his actions. There is plenty of behind-the-scenes footage featuring Lucas discussing the finer points of performance with Christensen, along with clips of the actor being fitted for his ‘crispy Vader’ makeup. The documentary also feature a scene from The Phantom Menace in which Yoda is presented as an entirely computer generated ‘actor’, perhaps warming up for a re-release somewhere down the line.

The third documentary, entitled ‘Within a Minute’, is easily the longest single feature on the disc, clocking in at around an hour and twenty minutes. In it, Rick McCallum takes us on a journey through the steps necessary to bring a single minute’s worth of footage—in this case scene 158, part of the duel between Obi-Wan and Anakin—to the big screen. We see how the talents of hundred of different artists, producers, stunt performers, accountants, set-designers, caterers, animators, editors, actors, sound designers, composers and, of course, George Lucas himself, are used to bring the Star Wars universe to life. The documentary includes interview footage with Lucas, McCallum, Ewan McGregor, Hayden Christensen, Nick Gillard, John Williams and many of the less glamorous members of the crew. It’s certainly a fascinating insight into just how much work goes into the making of a modern blockbuster, but I didn’t find it as entertaining as the previous disc’s centrepieces (‘The Beginning’ and ‘From Puppets to Pixels’ respectively). I’ll say one thing for McCallum though; the guy’s enthusiastic about his work!

Deleted scenes come next, and this time around they are a pretty interesting bunch. Presented as a mixture of fully-realised and incomplete scenes, each features an optional introduction by George Lucas/Rick McCallum and can be played either individually or as part of the whole. The first scene is basically a different take on moment when the Jedi first encounter General Grievous, and includes the death of Shak-Ti along with some nice comedic interaction between Anakin and Obi-Wan. It also includes the much talked about scene in which the Jedi descend into the bowels of the Invisible Hand and end up swimming in starship fuel! I remember that this was one of the first scenes to come to light way back when the first details of the movie were emerging. It is presented here with rough animatics for some of the effects, as well as visible green screens and wires attached to the actors. Still, it’s nice to see it, but on the whole I think I prefer the scene that actually made it into the finished movie.

Next up is an interesting scene that really should have remained in the picture. I am referring to the first meeting between the senators who would later go on to form the Rebel Alliance. Aside from Padmé and Bail Organa, we see future Alliance leader Mon Mothma discussing how the Chancellor has appointed Regional Governors to each star system and their fears that he may some day dissolve the Senate entirely–something that comes to pass in Episode IV. This scene adds some much-needed depth to Padmé’s character and also helps to establish a relationship with Organa, who will go on to adopt her daughter later in the film.

The following scene is more of the same, this time set in Padmé’s apartment, and is sure to please Bai Ling fans. The scene deals with how the fledgling Alliance intends to deal with the Chancellor’s continual amendments to the constitution–there’s talk of ‘the petition of the two thousand–along with the possibility of consulting the Jedi and gaining their support. The scene also features Lucas’ daughter, Katie, as the blue-skinned senator we briefly see during the opera sequence in the completed movie. This is another character moment for Padmé, in which we see that she still has confidence that Anakin will do the right thing.

If the preceding scenes should have remained, then this one most definitely shouldn’t have hit the cutting room floor. Perhaps the single most important scene to have been excised sees Padmé presenting the petition to the Chancellor while Anakin watches on. On the surface Palpatine is the model of civility, but you can almost taste the evil lurking beneath the surface. Perhaps the most important thing about the scene is that it shows more of Palpatine’s slow corruption of Anakin, even going as far as to sow the seeds of mistrust between the Jedi and his increasingly estranged wife. It features a great performance from McDiarmid as the scheming puppet-master, and provides some much-needed flesh to the bones of Anakin’s seduction and eventual fall from grace.

The next scene touches on the Jedi’s concern over the plot to destroy their order and is basically an alternate version of the corresponding scene in the movie. Instead of discussing their anxiety about the Chancellor and the shift in the Force in the open forum of the Jedi Council, this scene is more intimate and features only Yoda, Obi-Wan and Mace Windu. It’s an interesting little scene to watch, and I don’t really have a preference for either version as the information being imparted is pretty much identical.

The final deleted scene is very short, but is sure to be a fan favourite. I’m speaking, of course, of Yoda’s arrival on the swamp world of Degobah. Running at around thirty seconds, we get to see the diminutive Jedi Master arrive on the planet and take his first glance around the ‘slimy mud hole’ that will be his home for the next two and a half decades. It’s a fitting end to the deleted scenes, but I can see why it was cut from the movie. It just doesn’t have a place in the final moments of the film, which deal with the death of Padmé, Vader’s fate and the separation of the Skywalker twins.

The trailers and TV spots come next. I have a great fondness for the prequel trailers, which are arguably more atmospheric and effective than the completed films (at least in the case of The Phantom Meance). We’re treated to the nostalgia teaser trailer, which sent a shiver down my spine the first time I saw it at the cinema, partly because it gave us our first prequel glimpse at Darth Vader, but mostly because of Alec Guinness’ vocal performance over the top of the new visuals.

The epic trailer is the full two-and-a–half minute affair that was used to promote the movie in theatres and on the web. It’s an extremely effective trailer, showing the darker side of the movie without any of the comedic elements that marred the finished product. I have to admit to getting a little tingle as the trailer closed with the shot of the resurrected Darth Vader folding his arms aboard his Star Destroyer, accompanied by his familiar raspy breathing and the dull thud of his computer-regulated heartbeat.

A music video entitled ‘A Hero Falls’ follows, putting scenes from the film to John Williams’ ‘Battle of the Heroes’. This is the same music video as found on the DVD that accompanies the Revenge of the Sith score, but it’s nice that it’s been included here as it mirrors the previous DVD releases. Still, if you don’t have the soundtrack then you should seriously consider it for the DVD alone.

An impressive fifteen TV spots follow, showcasing both Revenge of the Sith’s action and tragedy. There are too many to go into great detail, but personal favourites include ‘Jedi Unite’, ‘Seduction’ and ‘Dark Side Unleashed’. However, none of them are quite as memorable as the Tone Poems and character based spots that accompanied the previous films.

Fifteen short web documentaries follow, running at between five and seven minutes in length. They touch on a variety of subjects ranging from crafting General Grievous to the creation of the weapons used in the film. I mention these two because they’re perhaps the most interesting. We get to see the evolutionary design process for General Grievous, and the weapon documentary is very informative. For instance, I learned that they used chrome-plated rubber lightsabers for the first time in this movie! Other featurettes include pieces on the make-up used to enable Ewan McGregor and Ian McDiarmid to more closely resemble their later (or earlier if you prefer) incarnations—McGregor imitating Alec Guinness and McDiarmid mimicking himself as he appeared in Return of the Jedi.

The video games and still galleries menu contains trailers for both Star Wars: Battlefront II and Star Wars: Empire at War. The latter looks to be most impressive, but I can tell you from experience that Battlefront II is great fun. A vast improvement over the first game, it is every Star Wars fan’s dream. I have the PC version, but this disc only includes an X-Box demo. This is a curious move, as there are surely many, many more PC users than X-Box owners. Still, the same thing was done with the previous discs so at least they’re consistent.

The still galleries consist of exclusive production photos, one-sheet posters and the outdoor print campaign. I’m not a huge fan of still galleries, but as usual some of the images are very pleasing. I’ve never quite understood why the prequel DVD covers weren’t the same as the gorgeous theatrical posters, but then I don’t understand a lot of what goes on in the marketing men’s heads.

DVD-Rom content is present in the form of the aforementioned X-Box demo and the usual weblinks to both the main and DVD-specific Star Wars websites. There’s also a link to the Star Wars store and a free trial of the ‘Hyperspace’ fan club, which is a section of the Star Wars website that now charges for features that used to be free.

It wouldn’t be right for me to conclude this portion of the review without mentioning the marvellous work that Van Ling and his team have done with the menus. To my mind, the Star Wars DVDs have the best menus of any disc out there, and this episode doesn’t let the side down. As before, there are three menu schemes, each themed around a particular planet: Coruscant, Utapau and Mustafar. Each is animated and accompanied be music and effects from the film, and as usual you can select your favourite menus at start-up with the press of a button (see the Easter egg section for info on how to do that). What is lamentable is the omission of a blooper reel—surprising given that one is present on all of the other Star Wars discs—but there is another little surprise in its place (again, check out the eggs section).

Overall

Well there you have it—the circle is now complete. While it’s still most definitely flawed, Revenge of the Sith is an entertaining popcorn flick and eminently viewable if approached with the right frame of mind. However, I’m still of the opinion that the prequel trilogy as a whole is one big missed opportunity; a prime example of ‘what could have been’. I honestly don’t believe that future generations will have the same regard for these films as mine has for the original trilogy. Perhaps that has as much to do with the way in which the world has changed as it does with the quality of the writing and direction, but the latter certainly plays a major part. For me, Attack of the Clones is still the most enjoyable episode of the three, but I understand that I’m probably in the minority there.

Whatever the movie’s shortcomings, Fox has once again delivered the goods with the DVD release. This is arguably the best of the prequel DVDs in technical terms—both audio and video are of ‘reference’ quality—and the bonus material is easily on a par with what’s come before. Presentation also remains superb throughout, thanks to Van Ling’s menus. All-in-all this is ‘must have’ DVD for Star Wars fans, who can finally sit down and watch the entire thirteen-or-so hour saga unfold before their eyes. It’s not just a film for the die-hards though, as even casual viewers will get a kick out of the action and incredible audio-visual experience. Revenge of the Sith comes very highly recommended and is the first winner of our coveted 'Platinum Award' for excellence.

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Well Chris, I just wanted to say that the review was great and I personally love all of the films.But Chris, your ratings fof the films are a bunch of feckin' elephants! I'd give 10/10 for all the films! Wich I assume I already did.Well, by the way...I know this won't be about star wars, but has anyone seen Father Ted? That program is my second favorite apart from Star Wars.

Chris, I wanted to apologize, I myself am Irish, no business for insulting anyone. Will you forgive me?

chris, I'll have to apologize to everyone. But Dan Laurikies... I agree with you. =D

did anyone know about "The Soul of the Sith"? It is the soul of the first Darth Vader. I've heard that Darth Sidious made a previous Darth Vader, but that one was a previous Jedi as well, and he remembered all about his life as a Jedi...and he tried to kill Sidious, but Sidious killied him. =( That poor Jedi. =( Anyway bye

The thing that bothered me the most about this film was the sequence when the robots land on Anakin and Obi-Wan's ship and proceed to tear into it. Why the hell didn't they just blow up? Didn't anybody working on the set of the movie think of that!!!

Awesome review Chris. Regardless of the prequels shortcomings, Revenge of the Sith will always make me shed a tear or two knowing that after such a long ride that started way back when I was six years old, everything I ever wondered about as a kid was answered on screen. For good or bad, the circle really is complete. Bravo Mr. Lucas, it is far from perfect, but I will cherish the saga always, and watch it with my two sons as often as they want to.

I for one, thought that the music in the new trilogy was powerful stuff. I thoroughly believe "Duel of Fates", "Across the Stars", and "The Battle of the Heroes" to be excellent pieces of score music, and add a lot to the movie. I have never thought the score mix to be weak. In fact, I would call the score music to be one of the strongest, if not the strongest points, of this prequel trilogy.

I remember in the shooting script there was a scene where a meditating Yoda communes with Qui Gon Jinn's force ghost. I was hugely disappointed to find it missing not only from the final cut of the film but from the deleted scenes too, which is a shame considering it would have better illustrated the theme of "returning from the force" than the sentence or two we got at the end.

"By the way Obi Wan, had a chat with Qui Gonn from beyond the grave I did."

Does anyone know what happened to this scene? Perhaps Liam Neeson was busy? Or Lucas had too many fith rate slapstick 3 stooges CGI droid scenes to cobble together. For feck's sake!

Very enjoyable review, personally I liked the film a lot but I give it the same cringe caveat as the other 2 prequels (it's Star Wars, so I am probably willing to accept some of the cringe inducing out of reverence to the near perfect legacy of the OT). It is a shame that as I've seen these new films come out I have to constantly remind myself that some of our GREAT actors are not some of our WORST. It's not just the lousy dialogue either, there are some just monsterous line readings (Ewan MacGregor and Christopher Lee have been nearly consistantly great though). Almost anything said by Jackson or Portman is really bad (and maybe the part of Anakin was just cursed from the begining)...I really thought this would have been repaired by the time when shooting of SITH commenced. I think the prequels largest shortcoming can be summed up in one word: characters. Lucas made a huge mistake in making the jedi completely stoic, humorless characters spouting the most scripted sounding dialogue ever put on film (seriously). It's not enough to tell the audience "these are the good guys-- you should care about them". Everybody says that the original trilogy had cheesey dialogue but did it really? I mean there are so many wonderful, quotable lines from the OT...do you think anyone is going to be quoting this new trilogy?

I wish Lucas would have followed more of a knights of the round table motif instead of the celibate, religious fanatics with virtually no personalities we find in the prequels. Give them wives, maybe some small vices (in a star wars kind of way of course), something, anything to make them HUMAN not cardboard cutouts. (you know, I would think that we have all too many horrid reminders of what forced celibacy in our churches seems to cause...repression is just not a good condition for the mind). Lucas had such GREAT talent to work with..SAMUEL JACKSON for crying out loud...what a waste. The majority of the OT's dialogue was written by other writers and it's a shame Lucas did not likewise collaborate on this new trilogy (he's a great story writer but Lawrence Kasdan, he's not). Surrounding yourself with "Yes"-men is never a good idea and someone should have said "NO GEORGE" and nobody was doing that apparently. Sorry this has been a negative rant but the original STAR WARS is a friggin' classic that slowed down for moments of wonder and emotion not boorish dialogue spouted out in front of green screens. I really did enjoy Sith much more than the previous 2 entries and especially the final 60 minutes were great (if a bit hurried during the birth sequence and the finale with baby Luke - man than should have been a POWERFUL MOMENT!!! Perhaps the most emotionally resonant scene of the film and it's over in a couple of seconds - no pacing at all.) I do (completely) agree that the score mixes have been sadly weak on all 3 of the NT releases and the disc's visual presentation is truly reference quality - the new standard if you will. I was surprised by the fairly small amount of time devoted to the art design and special effects of the film, considering that seems to be Lucas' focus with the NT. Sorry for this lengthy post and thank you very much for the great review and a truly great site as well.

I actually thought this was the best of the Prequel Trilogy,though not a patch on the original Star Wars or Empire Strikes Back,I do prefer it to the Return of the Jedi,though it may wear off after a time and Jedi may overtake it as a fav

My rankings not everyone will agree!!

1. Star Wars 2. Empire Strikes Back 3. Revenge of the Sith 4. Return of the Jedi 5. Attack of the Clones 6. The Phantom Menace

That is also what I assumed Matt, I just thought the comic book bit was odd. Some of those comics are a fun, free, afternoon break read. I don't think I'd ever buy one though, at least not at full price.

On the Dias thing--I just always assumed that Dooku used the name of a recently dead Jedi when ordering the Clone Army himself to cover his tracks and create confusion. Afterall, he is the one who recruited Jango Fett as the basis for the clones in the first place and Sidious' plot would be much easier to unravel if the Jedi found out that the man who is leading the Seperatist movement is also the same man who ordered the clones, which with Jango letting a bit too much slip during his meeting with Obi-Wan (naming Tyrannous as his contact) they nearly did anyway.

I like your thoughts Matt, but agree that the seperation of Anikan and his mother was very important. IT is unfortunater that both Maul and Grevious, no matter how cool, are throw away characters.

Chris, sometimes I stop in Borders and read a Star Wars comic, and in one of the Legends comics (I beleive) Dooku is holding Dias' criogenitically frozen body for no apparent reason. In the same comic, it turned out Maul wasn't dead, and had been hunting Obi Wan for the entire trilogy, only to finally attack Luke as a baby to draw him out.

Quote: Originally posted by Peter Martin As for the 'mystery' aspect of Ep2, was that ever really concluded? Who was Sipher Dious?

Several published sources hint at the fact that Sifo-Dyas was a Jedi who ordered a clone army to defend the Republic in years to come, having foreseen some great threat to its future through the Force. He was then killed by Dooku on Palpatine's orders after the Chancellor learned of the army and saw an opportunity to take control of the galaxy.

Another line of thinking is that he was actually ordered to create he army by the newly elected Chancellor, then killed by the new Sith apprentice, Dooku.

Yet another line of thinking is that he was a servant of Darth Sidious who ordered it in full knowledge of what it would be used for, then was killed by Dooku shortly after placing the order.

Although the first option is the generally accepted one, the last one makes more sense if you take Order-66 into consideration. I doubt a decent Jedi would have allowed that order to be genetically programmed into the troops, and the Kaminoans imply that they have had no contact with anyone from the Republic since the order was initially placed. Then again, it's just a fantasy movie and a lot of it is contradictory, so it's likely that Lucas never even thought it through...

Well I am a huge Star Wars fan so I might as well give my ratings. Now since I am a true and crazy fan I love all the films and my heart gives them each a 10/10. However if I put my bias aside as much as I can I rate them as such: TPM: 7/10 AOTC: 8/10 ROTS: 9/10 ANH: 9/10 TESB: 10/10 ROTJ: 8/10 I think my rating's are pretty fair and reflect most of the fans' opinion. Either way...STAR WARS FOREVER!

But that's what he was after the end of ROTJ anyway. That was kinda the point of the unmasking scene; that there was a frail old man under that imposing armour.

Talking of the armour, there's a goof in ROTS when they go to put the mask on him. In the wide shot the collar isn't attached, but in the close-up it is. Wonder if George will add that to his tweak list?

I think the entire saga works as is. Obviously these aren't masterpieces, but All 6 of them are when taken as a complete story. I think the prequels also work better as story and add tons of depth to the original films. The originals had more of an adventure feel to them, but not much depth. I'm glad George decide to do the prequels the way he did. Darth Vader is much better as a sad redemptive character rather than some simple black and white villian.

Quote: Originally posted by Peter Martin I agree completely with Matt's 'improvements' to the prequel trilogy (although I think Anakin being seperated from his mother needed to be in there somewhere). I don't think its necessary, I think the entire Padme thing is enough to push Anakin over the edge and to the dark side along with his ego; love has a funny way about making people do strange, unrational things all by itself.

I agree completely with Matt's 'improvements' to the prequel trilogy (although I think Anakin being seperated from his mother needed to be in there somewhere). I have considerably less problems with episode III, than I or II. Although, maybe I'd ceased caring by this point...

While I'm here...

I - 4/10 II - 6/10 III - 7/10 IV - 8/10 V - 9/10 VI - 8/10

As for the 'mystery' aspect of Ep2, was that ever really concluded? Who was Sipher Dious?

Chris, great review ! (FWIW, I think I agree with everything you said.)

OK, I really enjoy the Star Wars films, but I can't say I'm a fan, not in the sense that I know every character's names and all the between-the-films stories.

So, a few things from the completion of the prequel trilogy have left me scratching my head. Can anyone help me out ?

1) Why did Yoda suddenly decide he had to go into exile ? And if he was so devoted to the Jedi cause, and thought the Jedi creed (was it actually a religion ?) was so important for the well-being of the galaxy, why shut himself away on an otherwise-uninhabited planet ? Why not go somewhere quiet and continue to train people in Jedi practices ? Why stay hidden for twenty years ?!!

2) If Obi-wan was present at the birth of Luke and Leia, why didn't he know that Luke had a sister in Ep. V ? Why the "that boy is our only hope / no there is another" exchange ?

3) If Obi-wan's job on Tatooine was to watch over Luke's progress, what was he waiting for to start Luke's training ? Stormtroopers land on the planet, Luke is threatened, and Obi-wan doesn't act until they seek him out. How come ?

4) Why doesn't Obi-wan recognise R2-D2 ? I know he says "I don't remember owning a droid", not "I've never seen this droid in my life", but still, he clearly isn't aware their paths have crossed before. That's not creditable, now.

5) Why did Bail Organa order for C-3PO's memory to be wiped ? Was this just a clumnsy attempt to clear up the anomaly of Threep not recognising Tatooine, or was there an actual reason ? And why only Threep, and not R2-D2 ?

6) Speaking of Bail Organa, if he's a Senator from Alderan, which is a democracy, how does Leia get to be called "Princess" ?

7) How does Anakin become a master of the Dark side of the Force literally overnight, when all he apparently did was pledge allegiance to Sidious ? These skills are obviously not hard to acquire, then. Not very believable, is it ?

8) I really *hated* the bit about Qui-Gon acquiring the ability to communicate -- it was so clearly just stuck in there, and at a very inappropriate point in the proceedings, I though. But I still don't get how even that explains how Obi-wan and Yoda could suddenly dematerialise when they died -- are we supposed to assume that these are some sort of power acquired from Qui-Gon's "discoveries" ? And even if so, how come Anakin can suddenly do it at the end of Ep. VI ?

Anyone who can clear these questions up, I for one would be very interested and appreciative !!

(Yes, I know, GL would probably say these will be made clearer in the TV show and books. But as someone wisely said earlier in this thread: if it ain't in the movies, it didn't happen !!)

Rating coming from someone who has enjoyed, but doesn't worship Star Wars as the cinematic holy grail. Aside from TPM, which was mediocre on every aspect, each of the rest have their moments, but also their flaws. And yes, ESB is good, but not THAT good.

Chewbacca's role was disappointing, I thought he would be a great military leader or have the role of Braveheart or something, instead he's just another Wookie in the crowd.

I still wished they could have cut down on the action of the film and explained more about what was going on. I would have actually really wanted to have some boring dialogue, but there's just for me too much action.

Also the sith title "Darth", should have been explained by Palpatine in this film. Where it came from?, what it means? and such. Might have been interesting to hear. Seeing as how Anakin is named "Darth Vader" at the end when he joins the Sith. A name he very much would have been interested to know what it means for him

I certianly agree that it seems that there is too much of this film missing in some parts and too much of other scenes in other parts. I also thought that General Greivous was a much wated character......

I’m seeing a lot of criticism over the prequel trilogy in this thread, but does anyone have any opinion as to what would actually have made it better? Well after finally seeing the final act play out, here’s my take on how the prequel trilogy would have unfolded if I were making the films:

1) I’d of jettisoned The Phantom Menace in its entirety; the first movie adds nothing to the story and is a convoluted, wasteful two hours better spent on a completely different and more interesting story idea. I’m of the mind that I could care less in seeing Anakin’s beginnings as a child, which is the entire point of the first film. Make Anakin a Jedi apprentice with a lot of potential and leave it at that; no talk of virgin births, prophecies, and midichlorians or any of that crap as it just doesn’t work and all comes across as silly.

Ultimately, my opinion of The Phantom Menace is that it doesn’t fit in with the rest of films and hampers the prequels with unnecessary exposition. The original trilogy had immediacy to every scene that pushed those films along and moved the overall three film story arc, something the prequels lack with this false start of a film. Deleting it takes care of certain characters and plot points that play no greater part or have little relevence in the other movies.

2) In getting rid of the first film and making a few script changes, I’d of made Attack of the Clones the first film in my prequel trilogy. Anakin is introduced in this first film as a Padawan learner to Obi-Wan Kenobi at basically the same age Luke is introduced in Star Wars and meets Padme for the first time near the beginning instead of being reunited with her. Otherwise, the film plays out close to how it actually does, except for my next point…

3) No marriage at the end of Clones; the whole romance in the second film is much too rushed and ham fisted. The entire Geonosis trip should play out as a playful first date of sorts for Anakin and Padme, not a prelude to nuptials or a declaration of undying love for one another.

4) The second film in my trilogy would take place during a pivotal time in The Clone Wars. With Clones we get to see the beginning of the war and with Revenge of the Sith the end, now we get a film that takes place during the conflict (and before you all yell "But what about the animated The Clone Wars?", I’ll state my opinion that if it didn’t happen in the films, as far as I am concerned, it didn’t happen). Something missing in the prequels is that we keep hearing about how Anakin is this great hero of the war and all, but it’s never seen on film and you never get a great sense of it. There is also room for the relationship between Obi-Wan and Anakin to become a deeper bond as there is a special comradery between soldiers that is born in times of war; you get a sense of it in Sith, but again you never see it develop so it loses some weight. Having a wartime picture also adds the potential to see the dark side in Anakin grow; as it stands his turn from good to evil in Revenge of the Sith feels like it takes about as much time as taking off a white hat and putting on a black one…a bit more build up would have been better.

5) Anakin and Padme would marry at the end of this new second film, having had time between the first two films to actually have a believable, evolving relationship before jumping headfirst into matrimony.

6) Count Dooku would return as the foreground villain in the film with Palpatine in the wings. Another missing component from the original trilogy is one bad guy who is consistent throughout the trilogy, such as Darth Vader. The prequel trilogy has a series of disposable bad guys running around, but no one who is a common thread to the films besides the shadowy and, to be quite honest, boring Darth Sidious. Count Dooku, as the elder statesman, fallen Jedi would fit this role perfectly in accordance to the structure of these films that are set in a more regal time period. And speaking of bad guys, General Grievous could have been this trilogy’s Boba Fett if handled differently (i.e. not as a cowardly joke) and introduced in this new, second film.

7) Revenge of the Sith would unfold pretty much as is, though I would have extended Count Dooku's part and swapped his place with General Grievous in the film. Just like Fett in Jedi, Grievous is there for the beginning but quickly dealt with.

8) I also would have kept the scene deleted from Sith where we see the Rebel Alliance born. It seems like too important of a scene to me to cast aside and would make a nice mirror image to the Rebel planning scene in Jedi.

So there’s how I’d mold the prequel trilogy. Would you change anything, or leave it as is?

Oh, and while we're rating the films... Star Wars - 9/10 The Empire Strikes Back - 10/10 Return of the Jedi - 8/10 The Phantom Menace - 5/10 Attack of the Clones - 8/10 Revenge of the Sith - 7/10

The best thing about Revenge of the Sith was when Palpatine jumps out of his chair and spins like a crazy mother fucker, that was the most funniest thing i have ever seen. I like the movie, just very dissappointed, i wanted a little more then what i recieved.

I think that the story points I liked in the prequels, especially in AOTC, were those dealing with Palpatine's take-over plans. Concocting the Trade Federation's block of Naboo, tricking Amidala into outting the Chancelor, taking the Chancelor's spot, altering his plans onthe fly when the Gungans actually defeat his army, tempting a powerful Jedi (Dukoo) into his control, having the forsite to create the clone army (through another Jedi), giving the Jedi (Obi-Wan) just enough clues for them to find the clone army in time for use, creating a war, using an idiot like JarJar to get himself more power, utilizing the public's fear of war to solidify his power, making sure the Jedi were generals in the war, putting them in the vunerable position, dwindling thier numbers and seperating them, ending the war by making the Jedi the villans, all the while coaxing Anikan, the most powerful Jedi in creation, over to the dark side. It's just cool. And getting himself captured, this guy is like ice.

This is a great review, although I would have rated this lower. The acting and direction ARE bad but the number one thing wrong with this movie and the other prequels is the story. These prequel scripts are awful, for the most part, and don't really add anything to the saga overall. The only prequel Star Wars film I even enjoyed was Attack of the Clones and even then I don't think it was any better than a 3-star movie. If only George Lucas could care about the characters again and not simply the visuals. These films feel like cold works of art with high-quality styles and no heart to make them meaningful.

That statement makes it sound as if people are suggesting the originals were inferior.

The OT was a product of a different time, when Lucas was a different man. The effects in the original films compliment the action, rather than dominate it. The acting is hokey, instead of just plain bad. I'v paid my money, watched all six, and made my mind up.

Yeah, I don't care what anyone says, I still love Jedi, despite its pacing issues and the fact that one of the good guys really needed to die in the final reel.

I agree with all of your critisisms of ROTS, Chris, I just felt the good bits outweighed the bad. I liked the closure, I liked the epic scope, I enjoyed the brisk pace, I thought McDiarmad was spectacular, and I really felt the emotions, espicially in the order 66 sequence.

...but...

..though I've actually always been ok with the wooden dialogue (I feel it fits the films' style), I hate the funny robot moments even more with each of the prequels. I didn't hate the R2 sequence at the beginning, but think it would've worked much better WITHOUT the cute voices. I also agree that Grevious was redundant, and really should've been Dukoo. Dukoo was my favorite character, and I really wanted to see more of him. Grevious was cool looking and all, but he didn't seem like much of a leader.

As for the pacing, the orbital battle went on far too long (the buzz droid thing didn't need to be there), General Greivous was a completely redundant character whose scenes dragged, and I found myself fairly disinterested in a lot of the film.

The Palps/Mace fight would have been better as it was originally scripted and shot as well, with Anakin there the whole time. There were lots of bits that didn't feel right, but at least Yoda never farted.

What I liked about Clones was the whole Obi-Wan mystery thing, and everything from the arena battle onwards was great. Sith had its moments, but not as many as Clones. That said, there's not a lot in it. I mentioned I nearly went with a 7, but decided on a 6 after careful deliberation (knowing I'd get some flack for it). People who rate this the second best in the series need their heads examining though. I make no apologies for that statement!

The rumor during filming was that Portman and Lucas were feuding. So he cut down on her scenes. Now, it's just a rumor but it is at least a reason for her lack of screentime.

I also think you might have been a wee bit hard on 'Sith', Chris. I thought the best thing about it was the pacing. The other two prequels were filled with pointless scenes that just took up time. With 'Sith' I wasn't sitting there looking at my watch.

If people want to see the CGI Yoda just click on the link to the Easter egg above. As for Anakin's parentage, it's clearly stated in TPM that he is the product of a 'virgin birth'. During the Sith commentary McCallum says that we're hearing important info about Anakin's origins, but doesn't elaborate (and Lucas doesn't mention it at all).

I thought the sabers had a fair old hum in this one, but it's been a while since I watched either of the others. Dooku's saber did have a deep hum though, I remember that. The saber bit that sticks in the mind for Sith is right at the beginning when they're cutting down battle droids. The sabers can be heard moving discretely around the seating position - cool. It does seem to be quiet compared to most mixes, but that's because of the vastly different types of effects it has to contend with.

Yoda was a puppet for 90% of TPM; in a scene near the end of the film, the one where he is talking to Obi-Wan about continuing Anakin's training, he is CGI and walks across the floor, but for the rest of the film he is a puppet.

Though the three prequel films are no where near the original triolgy The Phentom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith each have something to offer which make them, for me at least, worty additions. I actually thought that Attack of the Clones was the worst of the prequels and the whole series. It was just so boring and if they cut dont some of the sbu plots and the shitty dialogue we could have had a better film. And there was way to many special effects that the film looked so fake it was annoying and that also attributed to the horrible acting from EVERY actor in the film. But I thought that Revenge of the Sith was by far the best of the prequels and the second best in the series next to The Empire Strikes Back and slightly better than A New Hope. Its the most intresting and the effects are just breathtaking. That opening battle is my favorite battle in the series, its beautiful! But just because there are some cheesy parts dont make this a bad movie. Its one of the better sci-fi films of the year next to Serenity and War of the Worlds so I urge hard core fans and common fans alike to pick up a copy even if they did not really care of the film (cause there are amazing features on the set!) Its nice to be able to watch all six films in order and this is truely one of the best series in film history.

Here is my rating for each film...

The Phantom Menace- 7/10 Attack of the Clones- 6/10 Revenge of the Sith- 9/10 A New Hope- 8/10 The Empire Strikes Back- 10/10 Return of the Jedi- 8/10

IMO this is the ONLY Star Wars prequel that is any good. It's lots of fun where the other two are very poor indeed.

It's such a shame Lucas decided to tell ALL the meat of the story in Episode 3. If he had introduced Anakin turning to the dark side earlier (instead of hinting at it) the trilogy would've been so much better.

It needed more time; it really is two prologues and one film!

Quote: McCallum also hints that Darth Plagueis did in fact create Anakin Huh? Anakin's mother and father created Anakin.

I'm missing something aren't I?

Quote: Originally posted by Michael Buckley [b]I see in the review of the extras, Chris, that you mention the CG TPM Yoda replacement - how great does that CG model look next to that awful puppet! Now we know they've already replaced all of puppet Yoda in TPM so when do you think we'll get to see it?

I see in the review of the extras, Chris, that you mention the CG TPM Yoda replacement - how great does that CG model look next to that awful puppet! Now we know they've already replaced all of puppet Yoda in TPM so when do you think we'll get to see it? I'm thinking and hoping that we'll get it with the next TPM release, which should be as part of a Prequel Trilogy Boxset which we should,by right, get next year. It'd be so great to get an updated TPM as part of that set, with the new Yoda and a cleaned up transfer!

Yeah I've turned up my bass aswell. The sabres still haven't got as much oomph as in the previous 2 prequels though, IMO. I can see just by looking at the LFE indicator on my amplifier. Not so much compared to TPM but when you compare the sabres to AOTC, in particular to the Obi/Ani + Yoda vs. Dooku scene, my subwoofer was humming away every time the sabres were swung, when Dooku ignited his sabre it was as if it was almost diesel powered or something. In ROTS the bass is toned down + more discreet. Don't get me wrong I still love the DVD and have gotten used to the sound difference now.

The mix is quite quiet, but there's plenty of bass. The other prequels were the same - just crank it a notch. I recently had some decorating work done and my sub got nudged up to 10 from its usual 6. The opening shot of the Star Destroyer nearly shook the ornaments off the table! Sabers also have plenty of oomph to them - not as much as menace, but Maul's saber was purposefully excessive in that film.

I disagree with the review of Audio quality. While the surround sound is still great I found that in comparison to TPM and AOTC the LFE/Bass is quite lacking/sparingly used. In particular, and in direct comparison to what Chris said - I found that with the lightsabres there was practically no bass when they were swung, significantly less than was used in AOTC anyway. Does anyone else find this? Also when Grievous' ship comes crashing to Coruscant there's great use of bass as it hurtles through the atmosphere but then when it crash lands there's not as much as there should be-we just hear this massive ship scraping and grinding along the ground. I've gotten used to the difference in sound now (turning the volume up higher than TPM and AOTC helps a bit). Maybe it was a deliberate decision to reduce the LFE for the lightsabres, to tie in with the way they sound in the OT, I dunno. The sound mixer was also different for ROTS, than whoever they used on TPM and AOTC, maybe that played a role too.

Wow. Great review Chris, but (yes) I disagree that Clones is superior. Sat down to watch ROTS the other night and, admittedly, there's atleast 40 minutes where nothing happens... but when something does -eventually- happen; it feels far more consequential than the entirety of ATOC and TPM. As for an attachment to the characters, I think it would have helped if they'd had been half-way interesting in the previous two movies.

Ah well. That's the end of that.

Quote: Originally posted by Chris Gould Empire still wets on the others from a great height though. That's almost the perfect film.

I just didn't have any emotional attachment to the characters, which made it hard to care about them when it all went south. The humour was again childish, which spoiled the opening battle for me. The originals managed to appeal to children without the silly voices and slapstick routines.

It's not the worst film I've seen all year, but it's not as good as I remember. I'd probably have given it a 7 right after seeing it. Empire still wets on the others from a great height though. That's almost the perfect film.

Quite liked it at the cinema, thought it was good the second time around as well. Even liked it when I saw it on DVD months ago. Watched it the other night and there were huge periods where I was just sitting around waiting for something to interest me. Acting was also worse than Clones overall - 'Master Skywalker, what are we going to do' being a prime example of why most kids shouldn't be given speaking roles.

I toyed with the idea of giving it a 7, but I liked Clones more and that only got a 7. Not a fan of 'out of 10' systems though. I guess if I had to rate them all, they'd be 5, 7, 6, 8, 9 and 7. That's being objective.